Welcome to my Wonderland

My Favourite TV Shows!

How are you doing? Sorry I haven’t posted this week. The world’s strongest migraine decided she wanted to be my BFF this past week so I could barely get out of bed

But now I’m feeling better and prepared a post on my favourite TV shows (brace yourselves, the list is long!). Let me know if you follow any of them, I’d love to share my opinions with you!

America’s Next Top Model

The title’s pretty self-explanatory: it’s a fashion competition hosted by Tyra Banks in which the contestants have a themed photo shoot every week and are judged based on their best picture. And there are makeovers involved! Who doesn’t love a good makeover?!

Arrow

Based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, the series follows Oliver Queen, billionaire playboy of Starling City, who spends five years shipwrecked on a mysterious island. Upon his return to his hometown, he is reunited with his family and friends. The first season focuses on Oliver rekindling his relationships and spending his nights hunting down criminals as a hooded vigilante. He uncovers a conspiracy to destroy “The Glades” (a poorer section of the city that has become overridden with crime). John Diggle and Felicity Smoak assist Oliver in his crusade. Oliver reconnects with ex-girlfriend, Laurel, who is still angry for his role in her sister’s death. The first season also features flashbacks to Oliver’s time on the island, and how it changed him, which continues in subsequent seasons.

LOVE it, hooked me from the start! The characters are amazing and they’ve changed a lot throughout the 3 seasons, which makes it all the more realistic. Also, it’s really well written! Makes you laugh, think, feel, cry…

Beauty & the Beast

Yes, this one is kind of inspired by the classic tale of “Beauty and the Beast” but with a modern twist. Catherine Chandler, a law student, witnesses her mother being shot the same night she is saved from her mother’s murderers by a supposed beast. Nine years later, and now working as a detective for the NYPD, a case leads her to discover that Vincent Keller, an ex-soldier believed to have been killed in action during military service, is actually alive. As Catherine gets to know him, she starts finding out more about her mother’s murder and about who (and what) Vincent really is. At the same time, they get to know one another and eventually fall in love.

I just hate that CW keeps messing with the show’s schedule, it’s very annoying!

Bones

An oldie but a goodie!

The premise of the show is an alliance between forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth. Brennan is the central character and team leader of the fictional Jeffersonian Institute Medico-Legal Lab, a federal institution that collaborates with the FBI. Set in Washington, D.C., the show revolves around solving Federal legal cases by examining the human remains of possible murder victims. Dr. Brennan and her team provide scientific expertise and Special Agent Booth provides FBI criminal investigation technique.

In addition to the prospective murder cases featured in each episode, the series explores the backgrounds and relationships of its characters. An important ongoing dynamic between Brennan and Booth is their disagreement about science and faith. Brennan argues for science, evidence, and atheism; Booth argues for faith, God, and the unproven. The series is also known for its dark comedic undertones to lighten the gravity of the show’s intense subject matter.

Da Vinci’s Demons

The show follows Leonardo da Vinci (an eccentric genius who has struggled to deal with his inner demons and unruly imagination) as he is implicated in the political schemes of the Medici and Pazzi families and their contrasting relationships with the Catholic Church. These events occur alongside Leonardo’s quest to obtain the Book of Leaves as he finds himself entangled with a cult known as the Sons of Mithras.

This one can be quite confusing and even boring (I’m up to date now but didn’t watch most of season two until after it had aired) but also amazing and captivating, if that makes sense 😛

Downton Abbey

If you aren’t watching it, you should start NOW!! The series, set in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey, depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era, with the great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy (news of the sinking of the Titanic, the outbreak of the First World War, the Spanish influenza pandemic, etc. It’s a brilliant series, marvellously written!

Elementary

Set in present-day New York, it follows the lives of Sherlock Holmes (a recovering drug addict) and Joan Watson (who starts by being his sober companion but soon becomes his apprentice) while working for the NYPD, helping them solving crimes.

Eye Candy

Eye Candy centers on tech genius Lindy, a 21-year-old woman who is persuaded by her roommate, Sophia, to begin online dating. Unfortunately, she begins to suspect that one of her suitors might be a deadly cyber stalker. She teams up with her friends, a band of hackers, to solve the murders he committed while unleashing her own style of justice on the streets of New York City in an attempt to find her sister, Sara, who was kidnapped three years earlier.

Not my usual type of TV show but my best friend told me about it and I actually love it 😛

Forever

Forever is hilarious! Dr. Henry Morgan is a New York City medical examiner who studies the dead for criminal cases, and to solve the mystery of his own immortality. Since his first death 200 years ago, Morgan disappears almost immediately each time he dies and returns to life naked in a nearby body of water. Only antiquarian Abe, whom Morgan and former wife Abigail found as a newborn in a German concentration camp during World War II, knows that he is immortal. Morgan is stalked by a murderer, “Adam”, who has learned his secret, and claims to have had the same “curse” for 2,000 years.

Game of Thrones

First of all, if you don’t know Game of Thrones, you’ve been living under a rock for the past 5 years! 😛

Game of Thrones roughly follows the three storylines of A Song of Ice and Fire. Set in the fictional Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, the series chronicles the violent dynastic struggles among the realm’s noble families for control of the Iron Throne. As the series opens, additional threats emerge in the icy North and in the eastern continent of Essos.

It’s such a wonderful show! Season 5 can’t come soon enough!

Glee

Glee is one of those shows that you either love or hate. This may sound silly to you but Glee has been there for me for the past 6 years, I grew up with it, simultaneously with the characters, I laughed with them, cried (LOADS!!) with them, felt their pain, their joy… I can’t explain to you how much Glee means to me but it does mean a lot. The last episode ever will air next week and there are already a lot of feelings going on!

It focuses on the fictitious William McKinley High School glee club, New Directions, which competes on the show choir competition circuit while its disparate members deal with relationships, sexuality, social issues, and learning to become an effective team.

Gotham

Gotham is based on characters appearing in and published by DC Comics in their Batman franchise, primarily those of James Gordon and Bruce Wayne. At first I thought this show was so boring, I almost gave up on it. But then it started getting better and better and now it’s one of my favourites! Though I admit, I was truly sad when I found out that my favourite character was going to end up being a villain 😦

Grey’s Anatomy

Another one that’s an oldie but a goodie. Again, if you don’t know what it’s about, you’ve been living under a rock for more than a decade 😛 I was actually watching Grey’s Anatomy the other day when my mum called and I told her I was watching it and she was like “how can you still watch it after all these years?!” I honestly don’t know 😛 but I’ve watched it since the very first episode and can’t give up on it.

It focuses on the fictional lives of surgical interns and residents as they gradually evolve into seasoned doctors, while trying to maintain personal lives and relationships.

Hart of Dixie

Fast-talking New Yorker and brand new doctor Zoe Hart has it all figured out—after graduating top of her class from medical school, she’ll follow in her father’s footsteps and become a cardio-thoracic surgeon. But when her dreams fall apart, Zoe decides to accept an offer from a stranger, Dr. Harley Wilkes, to work with him at his small practice in Bluebell, Alabama. Zoe arrives in this small town only to find that Harley has passed away and left his half of the medical practice to her in his will.

She quickly finds that Southern hospitality isn’t always so hospitable – Zoe is out of her element and ready to pack her bags, but a surprise visit by her snobby mother leads to Zoe’s decision to stay in Bluebell for a while; she soon discovers the charm of small-town life and a side of herself she didn’t know was there.

I’m not up to date on Hart of Dixie (I’m still on season 3) as I only watch it whenever I have nothing else to watch but I really like it! Love most of the outfits Zoe wears, she’s always on point!

How to Get Away With Murder

It follows the personal and professional life of Annalise Keating, a criminal law professor at the fictional Middleton University in Philadelphia. Also a criminal defense lawyer, Annalise selects a group of her best students from her university class to work at her firm. As her professional and personal life start to collide, Annalise and her students become unwillingly entwined with a murder plot.

AMAZING TV show! Honestly, if you haven’t watched it, you don’t know how much you’re missing. Love it!!! So addictive and so well written, you are constantly surprised. There’s only one season out yet so you can catch up pretty quickly 😉

Masterchef Australia

Totally random, I know! But I love watching Masterchef Australia, I can always find inspiration for new dishes. And the Aussie accent is a plus 😉 ❤

Mr. Selfridge

A show that’s about Fashion and Shopping – what else could you ask for? Set in London in 1909, Harry Selfridge opened the doors of his lavish department store, on London’s famous Oxford Street. Amazing!

Pretty Little Liars

Oh. My. Goodness. This TV show is perfection! If you’re not watching it, you should! Set in the fictional town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, the series follows the lives of four girls, Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin, Emily Fields, and Spencer Hastings, whose “clique” falls apart after the disappearance of their leader, Alison DiLaurentis. One year later, the estranged friends are reunited as they begin receiving messages from a mysterious figure named “A”, who threatens to expose their deepest secrets, including ones they thought only Alison knew. At first, they think it’s Alison herself, but after her body is found, the girls realize that someone else is planning on ruining their perfect lives.

The highly fictionalized series follows the early exploits of Mary, Queen of Scots during her years living in France. The first season opens in 1557, with Mary living in French court and awaiting her marriage to Prince Francis, to whom she has been engaged since they were six.

Mary has to contend with changing politics and power plays, as well as her burgeoning feelings for Francis and the romantic attentions from Francis’ bastard half-brother, Bash. Francis’ mother, Catherine de Medici, secretly tries to prevent the marriage following Nostradamus’s confidential prediction that the marriage will lead to Francis’ death.

The series also follows the affairs of Mary’s Scottish handmaidens Kenna, Aylee, Lola and Greer, who are searching for husbands of their own at court.

Again: fashion, friendship, love, growing up, finding yourself, mystery, drama… I usually watch my episodes from my favourite to the one I’m less excited about and Reign is always #1 (#2 tops!).

Scandal

Can we just agree that Shonda Rhimes is a genius?! From Scandal, to How to Get Away With Murder and Grey’s Anatomy, every single one of her shows is amazing!

Scandal is a political thriller TV Show starring the amazing Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope. The show takes place in Washington, D.C. and focuses on Olivia Pope’s crisis management firm, Olivia Pope & Associates, and its staff, as well as staff at the White House, which includes President Fitzgerald Grant III, Chief of Staff Cyrus Beene, and First Lady Mellie Grant.

Again, between Scandal and Reign, one of them is the first TV show I watch on Fridays and the other one’s the second.

Scorpion

Walter O’Brien and his team of genius outcasts are recruited by federal agent Cabe Gallo of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to form Scorpion, said to be the last line of defense against complex, high-tech threats around the globe. The team includes O’Brien, one of the most intelligent people in the world with an IQ of 197, and his friends Sylvester Dodd, a “human calculator” dealing in statistics; Happy Quinn, a “mechanical prodigy”; and Toby Curtis, a “world-class shrink” (a Harvard-trained behaviorist). Paige Dineen is a former waitress whose intuitive interaction with people translates the real world to the team, and they, in exchange, translate her young mentally gifted son, Ralph, to her.

It only started last autumn but it has quickly become one of my favourites, always makes me laugh! 🙂

Mike Ross is a brilliant college drop-out. With his natural intelligence and eidetic memory, he makes a living taking the LSAT for others. To make the extra money he needs to keep his grandmother in a private nursing home, he agrees to deliver a case of marijuana for his best friend Trevor. The deal happens to be a sting operation which Mike astutely discovers and narrowly avoids, instead stumbling into a job interview with Harvey Specter, a lawyer at Pearson Hardman and arguably the “best closer in New York City.”

Recently made senior partner, Harvey must hire a Harvard Law-educated lawyer as an associate, as per firm policy. Harvey interviews Mike, and Mike uses his eidetic memory and genuine legal knowledge to prove to Harvey he is undoubtedly the best candidate. Mike is consequently hired, despite neither receiving a college degree nor attending Harvard, as Harvey decides he will pretend that Mike is a Harvard Law graduate.

The series focuses on Mike and Harvey as they try cases for the firm while maintaining Mike’s secret. Only Harvey’s legal secretary and confidante Donna Paulsen (one of the best characters ever!!!) knows the secret at first.

Switched at Birth

Bay Kennish, a teenage girl from the wealthy Kansas City suburb of Mission Hills, discovers from a school lab assignment that her blood type is incompatible with her parents’. Genetic testing confirms she is not the Kennishes’ biological daughter, which leads in turn to the revelation that the hospital mistakenly switched her with another newborn, Daphne Vasquez, who lives with her single mother Regina and grandmother Adriana in the low-income neighborhood of East Riverside. Daphne is deaf, having lost her hearing as a result of contracting meningitis at age three.

The Kennishes invite Daphne and Regina to their home, and after learning that Regina is struggling financially, propose that they move into their guest house with Adriana, an offer Regina accepts. This forces the girls, along with both families, to understand their differences and embrace their similarities.

The girls sometimes struggle with their identities, as Bay discovers she has inherited her artistic talent from Regina, and Daphne discovers she has inherited John’s athletic skill and Kathryn’s love of cooking. Both mothers learn to bond with their biological daughters, while often unintentionally angering their legal ones. John learns to relate to his new-found daughter by coaching her deaf school’s basketball team and employing her in the office of one of the local chain of car washes that he owns. Bay is driven by a need to find and relate to her biological father Angelo Sorrento, who left Regina shortly after Daphne went deaf.

Teen Wolf

The series revolves around social outcast Scott McCall, a high school student living in the town of Beacon Hills. Scott’s life drastically changes when he is bitten by a werewolf, becoming one himself. He must henceforth learn to balance his problematic new identity with his day-to-day teenage life. The following characters are instrumental to his struggle: Stiles, his human best friend; Allison, his first love interest who comes from a family of werewolf hunters; Lydia, a banshee and Allison’s best friend; and Derek, a mysterious werewolf with a dark past. Along the way, he encounters characters who shape him into a stronger werewolf and better person. Throughout the series, he strives to keep his loved ones safe while maintaining normal relationships with them.

The bromance between Scott and Stiles is hilarious!

The 100

The series is set 97 years after a devastating nuclear war wiped out almost all life on Earth. The only known survivors are the residents of twelve space stations in Earth’s orbit prior to the war. The space stations banded together to form a single massive station named “The Ark”, where about 2,400 people live under the leadership of Chancellor Jaha. Resources are scarce and all crimes, no matter their nature or severity, are punishable by ejection into space (“floating”) unless the perpetrator is under 18 years of age. After the Ark’s life-support systems are found to be critically failing, 100 juvenile prisoners are declared “expendable” and sent to the surface — nearby former Washington, D.C. — in a last ditch attempt to determine if Earth is habitable again in a program called “The 100”, for which the show is named. The teens arrive on a seemingly pristine planet they have only seen from space. They are meant to find refuge and supplies at the old military installation in Mount Weather. However, they have landed a fair distance from it and soon face other problems. Confronting both the wonders and the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. However, they discover not all humanity was wiped out; some people on Earth, called Grounders, survived the war, and there are even more dangers lurking – Reapers (Grounders who have become cannibals) and Mountain Men (who live in Mount Weather, the original destination of the 100).

It is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, a costumed superhero crime-fighter with the power to move at superhuman speeds. It is a spin-off from Arrow, existing in the same fictional universe. The series follows Allen, portrayed by Grant Gustin, a crime scene investigator who gains super-human speed, which he uses to fight criminals, including others who have also gained superhuman abilities.

This show will make you laugh every single episode, it’s hilarious and really well written!

The Originals

The Originals is a spin-off from The Vampire Diaries which centers around the Mikaelson siblings, Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah. The backdoor pilot, which aired on April 25, 2013, also revealed that the werewolf Hayley is pregnant with Klaus’s child and would therefore join the cast.

The show begins with the original siblings returning to the city of New Orleans for the first time since 1919. Having originally built the city, they had been forced to flee from their vengeful father. In their absence, Klaus’s protégé, Marcel, took charge of the city. Klaus resolves that they must take down Marcel and get back the city that once belonged to them. While doing that they must also protect everything that they have built from the war brewing between the vampires, werewolves and the witches.

It’s so good! One amazing story after another, it keeps you wanting to watch more every single week.

The Vampire Diaries

The series follows the life of Elena Gilbert, a teenage girl who falls deeply in love with a 163-year-old vampire named Stefan Salvatore. Their relationship becomes increasingly complicated as Stefan’s vicious and malevolent older brother Damon Salvatore returns with a plan to wreak havoc on the town, seeking revenge against his younger brother for turning him into a vampire against his will. Because Elena resembles their past love Katherine Pierce, Damon also begins to fall in love with Elena. It is revealed that Elena is a descendant of Katherine, who eventually returns with plans against the trio. Elena undergoes many hardships and deaths of close family members and loved ones throughout her high school experience.

The series is set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, a town charged with supernatural history since its settlement of migrants from New England in the late 19th century. Additional story lines revolve around the other inhabitants of the town, most notably Elena’s younger brother Jeremy Gilbert, her best friends Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes, and their mutual friends Tyler Lockwood and Matt Donovan.

The town’s politics are orchestrated by descendants of the original founding families, all comprising a “Founders’ Council.” Some of the founding families of Mystic Falls include the Salvatores, the Gilberts, the Fells, the Forbes and the Lockwoods. They guard the town mainly from vampires, although there are many more supernatural threats such as werewolves, witches, and ghosts.

The X-Factor (UK)

Another TV Show that’s totally random but it’s true, The X-Factor is one of my favourite ones, I’ve watched the last 3 series.

And that’s it, guys! Again, let me know if you watch any of these and, if you do, tell me all about it 🙂